Shemar Moore Says Cancelling S.W.A.T. ‘Makes No Sense,’ Hopes CBS Will ‘Realize They Made a Mistake’
S.W.A.T. fans aren’t happy that CBS cancelled the drama after six seasons — and neither is star Shemar Moore.
Moore, who plays Hondo on the long-running procedural, responded to the cancellation news in an Instagram video, admitting: “I’m a little bit sad. I’m a lot of bit sad… S.W.A.T. got cancelled. It makes no sense.” He pointed to the show’s ratings: “The last two years, we’ve been killing it… We’ve done nothing wrong. We’ve done everything that was asked for.” He also underlined the show’s diversity: “Did you know that I am the only African American male lead on network TV?… S.W.A.T. is the most diverse show on CBS.”
(For the record, CBS when it comes to diversity also has The Neighborhood starring Cedric the Entertainer, East New York led by Amanda Warren and The Equalizer fronted by Queen Latifah, while shows like The CW’s All American also have Black leading men.)
He added that when he posts this video, “I will get in a lot of trouble with CBS because I’m calling them out because they’ve been wonderful to me for 26 out of my 29-year career. But to abruptly get told that you’re cancelled when you led us to believe last week, and the week before that, that we would have some semblance of a Season 7 to at least say goodbye, if not continue, and to abruptly be told you’re done… now there’s a lot of politics, a lot of things called licensing, a lot of you won’t understand what that means… it’s all about money, y’all.”
But he ended on an upbeat note: “I don’t think we’re done. CBS is either gonna wake up and realize they made a mistake. Sony is gonna do their math and realize that this is not the right move. I hope we can have a kumbaya and come back together and continue this show because it’s a good time for families across the world.”
CBS cancelled S.W.A.T. on Friday, and the May 19 season finale will now serve as a series finale. This season, S.W.A.T. has averaged 6.8 million total viewers and a 0.7 rating, up 6% in audience and off just a tenth in the demo from its Season 5 numbers. But as Deadline reported in March, the Sony TV/CBS Studios co-production was facing some belt-tightening before any renewal was handed out.
Now he knows how Jay Hernandez and the cast of Magnum felt last season. Except I don’t think there’s going to be a save here since if they were still reconsidering, they wouldn’t have put out a statement.
I give Jay Hernandez credit in that he never spoke badly of CBS. He just posted a respectful post on Instagram thanking fans for the honor of portraying Magnum. And he could’ve gotten angry. He was the only male Latino lead on a CBS show. But the situation was different because within days he was contacted that NBC wanted the series. I don’t see that happening this time, sadly.
Shemar didn’t speak badly of CBS either. It’s ok to acknowledge that he is disappointed and thinks they made a mistake..
I agree with you and Shemar Moore. A good show like his should not end this soon.
THAT’S A LIE IT WASN’T DAYS IT WAS A LONG TIME B4 NBC TALKED ABOUT MAGNUM
Sooo glad Magnum is still around. My friends and I LOVE SWAT, too! CBS why???
The majority of shows are not saved. People need to do mathematics 101 before mentioning a random series that was saved by another network every time something is cancelled.
I have seen shows that were already cancelled (as in, they were no longer on the air) get saved so I would be surprised if this DIDN’T get saved
I get that he’s upset but after so long in the industry he shouldn’t be surprised. And his point about being the only African American lead on network TV when he was one of 4 on his own network didn’t help his points. Maybe 4 is still far too few but his point he tried to make made it seem all about him.
He stated more than once it was not about him.
Right but I don’t believe him. A week before the cancellation there were stories out there that the holdup was the licensing fees for SWAT so it’s not like this came out of nowhere. I get that. It’s disappointing but I just don’t think that his reaction was the best reaction. Just my opinion
Wrong opinion. He literally got the series uncancelled.
Yea it got uncancelled. Who knows how much of an impact he had. I’m happy for the cast and crew.
if you read the article/watched his video, his point was specifically about being the only Black male lead on network TV. context is important. he did not “make it all about him”; he was commenting on the diversity of SWAT cast overall.
I love that show. He is my favorite. Please help.
I hope an other station would pickup the show Swat like they did for Magnum P.I
Different circumstances, of course. Magnum was co-owned by Universal, which is part of Scumcast, the parent company of NBC & Peacock, so that’s a fairly easy transition.
SWAT was an “in house” CBS production, so their only other option besides the network would be to go “stream only” on Paramount + and if they had given that any serious thought, it probably would have happened already. It pretty much comes down to them not wanting to pay out the extra money that’s required after a show passes 6 seasons.
They don’t even have a shell game option like “Lose the main character and we can call it a spin off and save money”, like they’re attempting to do with Yellowstone right now.
Why cancel this show. Myself and my partner enjoy this show.
Trouble is with cbs they like to bring back old programs from the 80’s, and they turn out to be rubbish.
I’m mighty pissed off.
You do know SWAT was an old TV show brought back too, right
And the original SWAT was a lot better IMHO.
Why did they cancel SWAT that’s not right he did everything right we love show more more please some other network pick him up God bless
Money, it’s always about money.
Not just money. They ratings have to be strong enough to stay on as well. Unfortunately, the dwindling ratings coupled with the rising costs weren’t enough for it to keep running.
Did you not see what the ratings were? The show was up 6%in total viewers and only down a tenth in demo. Dwindling ratings are you talking about?
Yeah, I have. I saw the ratings report and Wikipedia article. I meant the ratings compared to earlier seasons. Just because the viewership and demo ratings are up over last season, it doesn’t mean anything compared any of the others either. What are YOU talking about?
TV show ratings as a whole are down compared to when the show started. I highly doubt you’d be able to find any show that has been on for six or more years that has higher ratings today than it did back then, so that’s not really a good comparison.
demo was down, which is the only one that matters since its on broadcast, ads pay the bills
Huh??? The ratings were UP.
Someone needs reading comprehension.
That’s exactly where the answer lies. Not just TV shows but everything everywhere have to make cuts across the board. Very sad times we’re in.
SWAT is an old show from the 70s, you realize?
HUGE MISTAKE CBS
Please reconsider and not cancel SWAT. One of the best shows on. Hopefully they will reconsider or another network picks it up
This can’t be the end!!! Hondo and family must live on!!! Please I pray another station picks this up!!!!
Pretty sad it’s canceled. I am a senior and it’s hard to find a decent show that one can watch.
I think he is wrong.
Cedric on the Neighborhood, Boris Kodje and Jason George on Station 19, James Pickens jr and Anthony Hill on Grey’s, Tyler James on Abbot Elementary, Daniel Ezra on All American etc
I get that getting cancelled sucks, but this is not the way
Out of your list the only “leads” of the show are Daniel Ezra and Cedric but even they, like the rest of your list, are really part of an ensemble. I love them all but Shemar is really the only one who is on screen for most of the show. In the beginning of All American Daniel Ezra could be called The Star but the show is more of an ensemble now.
East New York
Rookie Feds
Equalizer
Moore said “male” lead. These ladies are leads of their shows, and they are wonderful, but he really is the only African American male lead on a drama series. I regularly watch both The Equalizer and The Rookie Feds. I couldn’t get into East New York. I’m sure it was the licensing fee that doomed SWAT. Sony and CBS couldn’t come to a number they both agreed upon.
Either I’m blind or the article got updated because I eat when I first read the article it just said African American lead not male. But yeah if it is male lead on a drama he might be right. Other than ensemble shows can’t think of one
Rookie Feds is an ABC show but it is on the fence for renewal.. I enjoy it but it’s parent show.. The Rookie.. is better if misnamed now…
Agree with him 💯. CBS will realize the mistake or another network or streamer will scoop it up if they can afford to. Black Betty will ride again for Season 7 somewhere
I am disappointed. If CBS does not pick it back up maybe another station will.
I’m so tried of shows that are doing awesome getting canceled! Swat is a show my family looks forward to watching every week! Shemar Moore is a actor I have followed since he started Young and the Restless. Have you seen some of the stupid shows on TV today?? I’m very upset they want to cancel Swat. There’s only 2 shows I get Paramount plus for and Swats the main one. No need for a subscription if it’s gone.
PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL SWAT!! ITS MY FAVORITE SHOW.EVERY TIME I LOVE A SHOW,YOU CANCEL IT.NOT COOL!!!!
I’ve been a faithful viewer of Swat since it started and a huge fan of Shemar Moore since his soap days. I do hope they can work something out for everyone concerned and continue on with season 7.
Why do hey cancel the good shows? Love the stories they tell. Shamar is right, they gave a diverse cast. I love every one of them. My fav is Jay. Also Luca and Street.
Hoping someone else will pick up the show!
Netflix, Paramount
I’m with you Shemar and I really hope CBS or another network hops to it and signs SWAT up for season 7. I certainly am not tired of this show. They always come up with good story lines and I want more. If there is a petition online to sign please someone post it so we can all sign it. I WANT SWAT BACK!!!!
Very upset to see Swat canceled look at the ratings and not always the money thought Sony was there for the viewers and I bet the viewers would agree that canceling Swat is a very terrible mistake to do.
Follow Magnum PI, and see if NBC will take S.W.A.T.
Won’t happen. NBC picked up MAGNUM because both are owned by Universal, so it made financial sense. S.W.A.T. is owned by Sony, which does not have a network or a streaming service (because it’s a foreign company), so it has no place to go unless a deep-pocket streaming service unconnected to a studio thinks it’s worth their while. However, Sony said shopping it around was “not feasible,” so I’m afraid it’s over.
I really wonder at this point why any network even considers scheduling a SONY production.
sony keeps making things cheaper to last, its how a lot of their shows stayed well past their ratings.
I see you did your homework. Most people these days don’t. They always bring up xyz without during the work.
That is what I said! Market S.W.A.T to NBC, see if they are interested in a Friday night slot at 8p, Magnum at 9p and that would be a great match up and improve their Friday night ratings. What do you think?
NBC “saved” Magnum because their NBCU studio was making it anyway. There’s no reason for NBC to take on a (pricey) Sony series. (Plus, Magnum has arguably not worked out as well as NBC hoped, audience is down 30% even with delayed viewing.)
Putting it on Sunday was the stupid move.
NBC could not have thought that Magnum would have pulled in the same ratings or even a small % drop from it’s CBS’ days surely? Sunday is a bad day for ratings outside of CBS (and ABC sometimes) and with all the competition Magnum has had (AI, CBS shows) plus no lead in, it’s done better than I would have expected over the 10 weeks it aired.
.
But as you said SWAT has no where really to go. The networks really need to sort out how these shows are costing so much money and also campaign for changes to how ratings get measured. No one can think that demo is variable anymore?
Completely valid points, but I’d have to think that with delayed viewing, NBC expected more than 70% of that loyal, “Save our show!” fan base to get those episodes into their eyeballs, regardless of time slot.
CBS seems to always cancel the good shows, that’s why I don’t like to get interested in a series on CBS. I did get into S.W.A.T – but now, per normal, CBS will cancel it also. That proves it’s a good show. The only shows I watch on CBS anymore are S.W.A.T. and Fire Country – guess they’ll be cancelling Fire Country soon also, since they always seem to cancel the best shows.
Wait I thought they just renewed Fire Country?
This is a terrible thing, when all you have is reality TV-based shows!!, This is one of the shows that has something to think about at the end of the story! And they should have allowed them to finish rounding out the story!! Pretty tacky!! He is right it’s all about the money, and reality TVs cost two cents compared to a nice series!!
I’m a little selfish, but I hope this gives him a chance to revisit Criminal Minds if we get more of that.
You are selfish and so am I because I thought the same thing LAMO
Yes! They made a very BIG mistake! Please don’t cancel this show!!!!!!!
That’s a shame, it’s one of the few good shows on regular television. Hopefully another station will pick it up.
He’s 100% right
It’s all about money, and nothing more. One of the best TV shows on. Yet whoever is the head of CBS, must not like these types of programs. I sure hope NBC keeps Magnum P.I. after CBS threw them out